THE BLACK HAND FORUM

Antiliar wrote: ↑Sun Jun 01, 2025 11:38 pm

JoelTurner wrote: ↑Tue May 06, 2025 2:38 pm Joe Valachi wasn’t close to Willie Moretti but did share some interesting information about him.

In 1924, Valachi’s gang, that he calls the Irish Mob, was in a conflict with the East Harlem crew. Discussing a peace summit, he names him as a mafia member:

VALACHI: I found out through the years, later on, he [MORETTI] was one of the Cosa Nostra members, but at that time we didn't know.

[…]

CHAIRMAN: You didn't know anything about Cosa Nostra?

VALACHI: No; this was 1924.

Moretti was hosting the summit at his Pompeii Restaurant. From the rest of Valachi says, it’s fairly clear that he was a part of the East Harlem crew.

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Valachi’s says something pretty intriguing about Lucky Luciano’s status at the time too, explicitly naming him as a soldier:

All the big shots went over at this restaurant. By big shots I mean Ciro Terranova, Dutch Schultz, and all kind of big shots from out of town, Charlie Lucky used to go there too, even though he was nothing but a soldier. I didn't know anything about soldiers at this time but I found out later.

He’s referring to the end of 1924. I had previously assumed that Luciano was made captain in the early ‘20s though I didn’t know the exact year. Dominick “Terry Burns” DiDato was discussed earlier in this thread; he seems like a good candidate for his capo.

1924 might be a little early for Dutch Schultz to have been friends with Ciro Terranova. At the time, Schultz was a thug working for Joey Noe and was probably an unknown. I'm wondering if Valachi may have compressed events, recalling them forty years later. If this is the case, his 1924 recollection might be 1924 plus or minus 2 or 3 years.

I wondered myself about Dominick Didato being an early capo. Perhaps he was connected to Giovanni Dioguardi, who also came from Baucina. Both of them may have been in Salvatore Mauro's crew (he appears to have been a big shot and was the oldest member from Baucina, so I strongly suspect that he was a capodecina). One article claimed that Umberto Valenti was Mauro's shooter, but that is unproven. Ironically, Luciano was supposedly one of the men who killed Valenti.

JoelTurner wrote: ↑Tue May 06, 2025 2:38 pm Joe Valachi wasn’t close to Willie Moretti but did share some interesting information about him.

In 1924, Valachi’s gang, that he calls the Irish Mob, was in a conflict with the East Harlem crew. Discussing a peace summit, he names him as a mafia member:

VALACHI: I found out through the years, later on, he [MORETTI] was one of the Cosa Nostra members, but at that time we didn't know.

[…]

CHAIRMAN: You didn't know anything about Cosa Nostra?

VALACHI: No; this was 1924.

Moretti was hosting the summit at his Pompeii Restaurant. From the rest of Valachi says, it’s fairly clear that he was a part of the East Harlem crew.

————————-

Valachi’s says something pretty intriguing about Lucky Luciano’s status at the time too, explicitly naming him as a soldier:

All the big shots went over at this restaurant. By big shots I mean Ciro Terranova, Dutch Schultz, and all kind of big shots from out of town, Charlie Lucky used to go there too, even though he was nothing but a soldier. I didn't know anything about soldiers at this time but I found out later.

He’s referring to the end of 1924. I had previously assumed that Luciano was made captain in the early ‘20s though I didn’t know the exact year. Dominick “Terry Burns” DiDato was discussed earlier in this thread; he seems like a good candidate for his capo.

VALACHI: I found out through the years, later on, he [MORETTI] was one of the Cosa Nostra members, but at that time we didn't know.

[…]

CHAIRMAN: You didn't know anything about Cosa Nostra?

VALACHI: No; this was 1924.

All the big shots went over at this restaurant. By big shots I mean Ciro Terranova, Dutch Schultz, and all kind of big shots from out of town, Charlie Lucky used to go there too, even though he was nothing but a soldier. I didn't know anything about soldiers at this time but I found out later.

JoelTurner wrote: ↑Fri Oct 13, 2023 8:38 pm Official employment: U.S Linen Supply Business (113-137 N 1st, Paterson, NJ)

B. wrote: ↑Wed Oct 18, 2023 11:04 am Regarding Moretti's heritage, Joe Bonanno said in his book that Moretti was Calabrian. He says Moretti and Anastasia were "paesani from Calabria" who nonetheless "admired the Sicilian Tradition".
So we have Bonanno believing Moretti to be Calabrian like Anastasia and Moretti himself saying he came from the same part of Italy as Frank Milano, who was as Calabrian as it gets.

motorfab wrote: ↑Sat Oct 14, 2023 9:34 am I also always wondered if he was Calabrian, as he once claimed, or if he was from Puglia...

JoelTurner wrote: ↑Tue Apr 01, 2025 3:52 pm On the 1963 Genovese family chart, Michael Spinella is listed as a member of Miranda crew who was deported to Italy. This may not have been accurate, here’s a better look at him:

Born Mar 3 1894 in Marineo, Palermo, Sicily to Matteo Spinella & Rosa Tripoli, he moved to NJ as a toddler. By the start of the ‘20s, he was a well-known criminal in Paterson, NJ; involved in bootlegging, holdups, and gambling.

On Jan 21 1927, members of Anthony “Sparky” Wilda’s holdup gang, brothers Harry “Swchwabbles” & Richard Joachim, attempted to sell him liquor that they had stolen from him earlier. Initially refusing, he seemingly agreed after they tore up his bar The Lincoln Inn (937 Market St, Paterson, NJ). The next night, on Jan 22 1927, when they came to collect, he was waiting with Jim Profita, Frank Failla, and Frank Logioco. The ambush left Harry dead and Richard injured.

Facing a murder charge, Spinella went on the run. On Dec 15 1933, he resurfaced in Detroit using the alias Martin Steel:



Joe & Peter Bommarito, James Licavoli, and Tony Abati were Detroit members. I haven’t heard of the others.

A few years after beating the murder charge, he moved to Miami but remain in the NJ rackets as he was charged with operating a brother in Paramus, NJ in 1951. This led to him being deported to Capri 1953.

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Spinella killing Joachim kicked of a violent war, that lasted from 1927-31, between the NJ Genovese & the Wilda gang.

Nothing about Spinella’s activities nor the people that he was with point to him being in Miranda’s crew. Rather, he was likely a member of Moretti’s crew like the rest of the Jersey guys.

JoelTurner wrote: ↑Wed Mar 26, 2025 1:12 pm

Brovelli wrote: ↑Tue Mar 25, 2025 4:58 pm Wasn’t there a Phil denoia around Andy Gerardo too? May be no relation to these guys

He doesn’t appear to be related

B. wrote: ↑Tue Mar 25, 2025 5:08 pm I've wondered too if Denoia was a captain (acting or otherwise) given Moretti was an acting part of the administration on a seemingly recurring basis for many years.

Brovelli wrote: ↑Tue Mar 25, 2025 4:58 pm Wasn’t there a Phil denoia around Andy Gerardo too? May be no relation to these guys